Grates or similar apparatus for carrying burning coal, wood or other fuel within a stove or fireplace have been provided so as to be capable of being raised and lowered on a support carried therebeneath and operated externally of the device. As illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 271,214, 682,778, 635,481, 1,461,443, and 3,213,846, the devices of the prior art possess disadvantages in that they are fairly complicated and mechanism is usually positioned beneath the grate which obstructs efforts on the part of operators to clean the ashes from beneath the grate. Cleaning ashes is an onerous task and those who have become use to automatic conveniences within the home are not inclined to undertake them if they can possibly be avoided. Due to increasing shortages of fuel of all types, however, and in the interest of economy, wood stoves and the like have become increasingly popular despite these disadvantages.
Accordingly it is an important object of this invention to facilitate cleaning the ashes from woodburning stoves, especially of the type having a combustion chamber within an external chamber to permit circulation of air such as in a "Buck" stove of the type illustrated herein and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,976.
Another important object of the invention is to provide a grate for use in a woodburning stove which is raisable and shakable in order to avoid the necessity of removing the grate during emptying the ashes, thus economizing on fuel by permitting live burning coals to remain in the grate thereby conserving energy.